The benefits and harms of the double boiler: what users say

Steamers - not uncommon in the kitchen. The reason for their popularity is ease of operation. They quickly and easily cook healthy food. Let's take a closer look at the last statement: is the food cooked in the apparatus in question considered so useful? If so, what is its use? And is it not capable of harming the body? What conclusion can be drawn based on user feedback?

How does the double boiler

If we take the most affordable models, we find out that their device will be as simple as possible. This is a tank (in the form of a sieve) with prepared products, mounted on top. Below, under it, is a container of liquid. There are more complex devices, but they work on a similar principle, distinguished by the presence of the second and third tiers, located above the boiling water.

The juice released from the products during cooking flows into the lower tiers, therefore, as a rule, vegetables are placed on the top, and meat or fish are placed on the bottom.In this case, the products of the first tier acquire a pleasant taste and are additionally soaked.

Among the many user reviews there is an opinion that the efficiency of steam boilers could be much higher if there were no significant loss of steam.

Electric steamers are considered most productive due to the increased tightness that rubber seals provide. The usual double boiler used on the stove is devoid of these parts. In an electric device, water heats up very quickly (the temperature can reach 100 ° C). Unlike a conventional pan, this steamer works with a steam generator.

Compartments for products are made either of durable (often opaque) refractory plastic, or of tempered glass (in expensive models). There are also models with partitions, so that in one container you can cook different dishes at the same time.

To ensure the free circulation of moisture, the products in the container are not laid out tightly. A blockage may result in some parts not boiling over, and the upper tiers will also receive less steam.

The bottom, the very first tier gets the most heat, so it is usually put products that require more heat treatment, and that cooks faster in the upper tier.

Benefit

If you believe the statements of manufacturers, the benefits of the products prepared in a double boiler can not be overestimated, it is simply enormous:

1. Food cooked in a double boiler is easily absorbed by the body.
2. No cooking oil required.
3. Useful for those who watch their weight and lead a healthy lifestyle.
4. Preservation of useful properties of products.
5. Vitamins do not lose their strength when steaming, unlike cooking or baking.
6. Food is prepared in a natural way, without additional processing, without changing its original state (it is not digested at high temperatures, etc.).
7. There is no effect of electromagnetic waves, the effect of which on the body has not yet been fully studied by science.
8. Products, steamed, do not lose their original taste, only complementing and emphasizing them.
9. When cooking in several tiers, there is an exchange of useful properties between meat and vegetables, besides the dishes are saturated with additional flavor.

To the positive qualities you can add simplicity and convenience of cooking. The device allows you to quickly cook several dishes at oncewithout standing at the stove. All you need is to load everything you need into containers and set a command (some models are able to cook several dishes automatically). In addition, the device allows you to experiment with different dishes, creating your own recipes, and even those who are far from cooking.

Using a double boiler, it will be difficult to spoil the dish, not dvar it or, conversely, overcooking. For a person, this function is performed by a timer.

In short, the steam cooker and the benefits of its use are a topic for many discussions.

Harm

Like any other device, the double boiler has a number of nuances about which manufacturers prefer to keep silent and not to advertise them in advertising. Fortunately, these moments are not so much. Direct harm and a threat to health can be:

1. Materialof which containers are made (plastic). We all use plastic objects every day and know that they are absolutely harmless by themselves. And this is so until it comes to changing their original properties, for example, thermal effects.With strong heat, a number of chemical compounds harmful to human health can get into the prepared food. This is especially true of models made from cheap, not heat-resistant materials. Plastic is aging and begins to deteriorate, highlighting products that are harmful to our health. In this case, the situation is even more complicated, since different types of plastic spoil for different reasons: some from thermal effects, and others from interaction with other chemicals (use of detergents).
2. Incorrect operation. You can not cook some foods, such as mushrooms. Harm to health can be most serious, up to and including severe poisoning. In the process of heat treatment, mushrooms can secrete various compounds with which cereals and meat are soaked, being cooked on adjacent tiers.
3. Nitrates and carcinogens in vegetablesactively used in the process of their cultivation, can also be released in the process of heat treatment and give the negative properties of other dishes.

Dishes cooked in a double boiler have a rather specific (fresh) taste that not everyone can appreciate.

Reviews

Conclusion

As you can see, a double boiler is an unusual thing, and its benefits and harms (or rather, the pros and cons) are the subject of numerous disputes and discussions. Of course, the device is not devoid of merits and demerits, and everyone is free to decide for himself whether this device is suitable for him or not.